Lesson Focus:This
lesson is about worship as an expression of our desire to be in God’s presence.

Thirsting for God:Psalm
42:1-5.

[1]As a deer pants
for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. [2]My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God? [3]My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the
day long, "Where is your God?" [4]These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the
throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and
songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. [5]Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are
you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my
salvation and my God.[ESV]

Psalms 42 and 43
need to be taken together because both deal with spiritual depression. They
give at least six reasons for it, and they indicate the cure. (1) Forced
absence from the temple of God, where God was worshipped [42:1-2].The psalmist was far from Jerusalem and its
temple worship on Mount Zion, and he therefore felt himself to be cut off from
God. The psalm begins with his panting after God as the deer pants for streams
of water when he cannot find it. It is not that the psalmist does not believe
that God is everywhere, or that God is not with him. He is praying to God in
these psalms, after all. But his being away from home has gotten him down, and
his depressed state has caused him to feel that God is absent. (2) The taunts
of unbelievers [42:3,10]. In this distant land the psalmist was also surrounded
by unbelievers who taunted him with the biting challenge, Where is your God? This must have hurt him a lot, because he
repeats the line twice in just this one composition. The taunt did not mean
that God did not exist but that God had abandoned the psalmist. That is a cause
for deep depression. Where is God indeed? Where is God when I am in a far
country, separated from my usual work, taunted by enemies? Why doesn’t God seem
to hear my cries? Why doesn’t He intervene to change my circumstances? (3)
Memories of better days [42:4]. There is a proper use of memory in times when
we are depressed, remembering God’s past acts as an encouragement to believe
that He will act for us again. But that is not the first use of memory we find
in these psalms. What we find here is the writer’s wistful remembrance of the
good days when he would lead the worshippers in procession to the house of God. (4) The overwhelming trials of
life [42:7]. A bit further on in this psalm the writer speaks of the
overwhelming trials of his life, referring to them as waves and breakers that
have swept over him. We do not know what these trials were, though we can
imagine that they were the adverse circumstances that had borne him away from
Jerusalem. (5) Failure of God to act quickly on our behalf [42:9]. Verse 9 is a
painful cry to God for having forgotten him. It is not unusual for a depressed
person to feel forsaken by God. (6) Attacks from ungodly, deceitful, and wicked
persons [43:1]. The second of these two psalms brings in another cause of
depression. It is attacks by unscrupulous and deceitful enemies. These are
probably the same people who taunted the psalmist earlier in verse 3. But in
this section we learn that they had also been attacking him unjustly, since he
prays for vindication and a pleading of his cause by God. Most of us can relate
to this too, since it is not unusual for those who try to live for God to be
unjustly accused, attacked, and slandered. It is an unusual person who will not
be occasionally depressed by malicious and hurtful treatment.

What is the cure
for spiritual depression? The psalmist tells us how the godly person can win
out over depression. (1) He takes himself in hand. The most important thing to
be said about the approach to depression taken by the author of this psalm is
that he does not give in to depression or self-pity but rather takes himself in
hand and wrestles through it. He reminds himself of what he really knows and
finds that no reasons for being cast down are so strong as those for elation
and calm hope. Talking to ourselves rather than allowing circumstances to talk
to us is the very essence of wisdom in this matter. It is a case of the mind
speaking to the emotions rather than the emotions dictating to the mind. (2) He
challenges himself to do what should be done. The second step in the battle
against depression follows from the act of addressing oneself in this manner.
It is to challenge oneself to do what the spiritual self knows should be done.
Put your hope in God. There can be no lasting hope in anything else in this
sinful, failing world. The believer has put his or her trust in God in past
days. He can do so again. It is a mark of simple sanity to do what the psalmist
urges should be done. (3) He reminds himself of a great certainty. To hope in God leads to the final step in
the crusade against depression, the reminder, based on the character of the God
we trust, that I shall again praise him.
This is a great certainty. God has not changed. Therefore, His purposes for me
have not changed. He has led me to uplifting victories in times past. He will
do so again. Therefore, instead of looking at the past glumly as something I
have lost, I will look to it as a foretaste of the many good things yet to
come. Does medicine such as the psalmist prescribes really help? Does it effect
a cure? The progress achieved by it is evident throughout the psalm. Look how
the thought flows and the mood rises throughout this two-part composition. In
the first stanza the psalmist remembers the former days at the temple and is
oppressed by the memory; in stanza two he draws on memory again, but this time
it is to remember God and His goodness. In the first stanza he is troubled by
the taunts of enemies who say to him, Where
is your God?; in the second stanza he answers that God is with him [8]. In
verse 1, God is absent. In verse 9, God is his rock. By the time we come to Psalm 43:2, God is his stronghold,
where he takes refuge, and he is
praying confidently that God will guide him back to the place of worship and
the joys of former days. The first two stanzas were laments; the third has
become a strong, believing prayer. The same movement carries into the flow of
thought in the last stanza, for the motion he anticipates from God is marked
out in four anticipatory stages. First, it is backward to Mount Zion, the holy hill of verse 3 from which he has
been removed. Second, it is to the temple upon Mount Zion, the place where God
dwells. Third, it is to the altar of God
before the temple. Finally, it is to God Himself: to God my exceeding joy. Is there a cure for depression? Yes. But
it is not in us. It is in God. The cure is to seek God’s face (presence), so
ours will not be downcast, which is what the psalmist does.

[1-5]The longing of the psalmist for
God’s presence is clear from the use of images and the references to God.
First, the image of the deer
expresses the intense yearning for a taste of God’s presence. The deer looks
until it finds water and quenches its thirst with great joy. So the psalmist
longs for God’s presence with his whole being (soul). People intensely long for (pants … thirsts) fellowship with God and will not be content until
they can return to Jerusalem and praise God with great joy. So strong is the
psalmist’s physical longing for God that C .S. Lewis described the psalmist’s
craving as an “appetite for God.” Second, in the references to God, the
psalmist’s longing for God increases in intensity. He addresses Him as God [1], then as the living God [2], and finally expresses his profound hope to appear before God [2]. In view of his
need for God, the psalmist asks when he can return and experience once again
the presence of God. This raises the question of how a person who desires God’s
presence can experience alienation from God. The question finds its resolution
in the development of these psalms. The psalmist is hemmed in by his own question,
by his longing for God’s presence and by his enemies, who tauntingly ask Where is your God? [3]. Living in
isolation from the land, he cannot experience God’s presence in the magnificent
structure of the temple. Down deep in his heart he asks the same question,
“Where is my God?” for this reason he mourns continually. The depth of his
sorrow is hyperbolically expressed by tears
as his food. The taunts of the
enemies serve to bring him closer to despondency. For the present, it seems as
though God does not have the power to deliver. With these questions he lives all the day long. Not knowing where
else to turn, he looks back in remembrance, digs deeply into his own soul, and
then looks to God for the final answer to his despairing feeling. Adverse
conditions often create an optimum context for reflection. The psalmist cannot
do much more than remember. What
things did he remember? He meditated on the pilgrimages to the temple, the
festive celebrations, and God’s triumphs in the history of salvation. During the
three annual pilgrimage festivals, the pilgrims gathered in Jerusalem and
presented their offerings and sacrifices with great rejoicing. It is true that
many people were apostates, as the prophets bear out. But the godly minority
(the remnant) focused their hope on a purification of the people, a catharsis
of the temple worship, and a new age. The period of exile was the transition
between the old age and the new age. The transition period proved immensely
difficult for the godly. The pouring out of the soul is an expression of the
intensity of one’s emotions. The psalmist analyzes his feelings and asks
questions of himself [5, 11; 43:5]. The threefold refrain in verse 5 reflects
the emotional state of many of God’s people during the exile and, for that matter,
any crisis situation. The inner feelings express themselves in questions,
despair, and hope in God. The questions are overtaking him. Yet while hemmed in
by the questions in his desperate situation, he still could engage himself in
dialogue. There was no voice from God. In the loneliness of alienation, his
faith was tried, and it triumphed! Faith despairs and in despair hopes! Hope
leads the psalmist away from despair. His hope is in God … my salvation and my God. Hope, in essence, is waiting for
God to act. Hope is focused on the glorious acts of salvation and victory of
which the Law, the Writings, and the Prophets speak. Hope longs for the praise
of God for the acts of salvation. Hope says, “You are my God,” in anticipation
of the fulfillment of the promises, even when help is far off.

Despairing for God: Psalm
42:6-11.

[6]My soul is cast
down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
from Mount Mizar. [7]Deep calls to deep
at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over
me. [8]By day the LORD commands his
steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my
life. [9]I say to God, my rock:
"Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression
of the enemy?" [10]As with a
deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the
day long, "Where is your God?" [11]Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. [ESV]

[6-11]In spite of the psalmist’s
reflections and expression of the triumph of hope, the experience of alienation
is still there. He is still cast down,
therefore he returns in his memories to the Promised Land, symbolized here by the land of Jordan and of Hermon. The
upper Jordan Valley, the Hermon range with its peaks reaching nine thousand
feet above sea level, and the unknown Mount Mizar point our attention to the
region of the sources of the Jordan River. The psalmist returns to the water
imagery with which the psalm began. But this time, the memories of water are
overshadowed by a deep sense of despair. The waterfall, with its rocks,
breakers, and waves and its awesome noise of the rushing and falling waters,
metaphorically portrays his condition. Instead of enjoying the living water of
the living God, he is continually faced with an expression of God’s judgment.
He has no control over his present circumstances and undergoes the present
troubles, not knowing where he will end up. Has doubt triumphed? In his
self-doubt the psalmist remembers the covenantal love of the Lord. By day and
night he experienced the evidences of God’s care, protection, and blessing. He
sang praises to Him and prayed to Him morning and evening. That was a time of
fellowship with a God who was always present. The very experience of communion
with God made Yahweh real to him as the
God of my life. God’s continual love is a comfort for the soul continually
beset by questions and mourning. In his moments of doubt and reflection of
God’s absence, the psalmist raises questions to God – questions he asks in
faith, because he remembers who his God is: God, my rock. Regardless of how despairing the situation, the Lord
is still “the Rock” of Israel. He is the place of refuge. Twice he asks
pointedly why God has forgotten him.
In the present situation, the psalmist has no other recourse than mourning in
the agony of his own perplexity. He has been abandoned to godless people, who
taunt him continually with the same mocking question, Where is your God? He is like a dying man, and his God, the Rock,
is silent. His whole being is distressed by his foes and by God’s silence.
These reflections bring the psalmist again to a point of despair, self-examination,
and an affirmation of hope in the future saving acts of God.

Confidence in God:Psalm
43:1-5.

[1]Vindicate me, O
God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and
unjust man deliver me! [2]For you are
the God in whom I take refuge; why have you rejected me? Why do I go about
mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? [3]Send out your light and your truth; let them
lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! [4]Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my
exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God. [5]Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are
you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my
salvation and my God.[ESV]

Times of tribulation
either make us or break us. That is, it either drives us closer to God, or it
drives us further away from God. But no one remains the same through the
experience of deep pain. It all depends upon where a person’s faith rests. A
time of adversity for the person whose trust is in the Lord becomes a season of
increased dependency upon the Lord. So it was for the psalmist, whose ordeal
drove him close to God. Psalm 43 is an epilogue of Psalm 42. In Psalm 42, the
psalmist found himself in difficult times, increasingly reliant upon those
things that could not be shaken. The psalmist’s storm showed no sign of
lifting, so in Psalm 43, he continued to seek God in prayer while still
oppressed. The source of this trial was an ungodly nation [1], which posed as
an enemy [2], and threatened the security of Israel. In this situation, the
psalmist was removed from Jerusalem [3], thus this prayer that God would return
him safely [1]. He asked that God would lead him back to the holy mountain,
Jerusalem [3], so he could worship God again at the altar [4]. In the midst of
his despair, while endangered by an ungodly nation, he challenged himself to
put his hope and trust in God [5]. This psalm speaks to every believer,
whatever his despair may be. The message is loud and clear: Hope in God [5]. Using courtroom
language, the psalmist called out to God, Vindicate
me, O God, and defend my cause. He wanted God to be both his judge,
examining him, and his defense counsel, defending him against an ungodly nation
that threatened the security of Israel. This is a prayer for vindication from
his enemies in which he asked God to plead his cause before them. He wanted God
to rescue him from the deceitful people who threatened his life. The identity
of this nation is not mentioned. With growing confidence, the psalmist boasted,
you are the God in whom I take refuge,
the one who could defend him from all attacks. Nevertheless, as his enemies
seemed to be gaining an advantage over him, the situation gave the appearance
that God had rejected him. He lamented, Why
have you rejected me?If God was his
sure defense, he wondered, Why do I go
about mourning, oppressed by the enemy? Seemingly, God had rejected him. He
prayed that God would lead him back into His presence. Personified as the psalmist’s
personal guide, God’s light was the divine illumination necessary for a person
to understand His truth. In other words, a God-given understanding of God’s
Word would lead him back to worship in Jerusalem. The psalmist needed the
providential care of God to overturn circumstances before he could go back to
Jerusalem. Once he got back to Jerusalem, the psalmist pledged he would go to the altar of God who was his exceeding joy, the satisfaction of his
soul. Repeating the familiar refrain from the previous psalm [42:5,11], the
psalmist searched and asked his own heart, Why
are you cast down, O my soul? He wondered how he could be so emotionally
distraught if God was so great. He directed himself, Hope in God. In other words, have confidence in the Lord! Rather
than focusing outwardly on the enemies who surrounded him, he must look upward
to God. With a firm resolve, he determined that he would praise the Lord who
alone was his Savior and God. Conclusion.In the midst of life’s troubles, the believer
must direct his heart towards God and anchor his soul in him. Unwavering hope
must be placed in God, regardless of the circumstances around us. To do this,
the believer must call himself to exercise confident faith in God. The
character of God, particularly His faithfulness to His people in times past,
should be a strengthening comfort to believers today. God alone is the Savior
and sustainer of His people. He alone can rescue us from our darkest trials and
troubles.

Questions for
Discussion:

1.List the six reasons
these two Psalms give for spiritual depression. What cures for spiritual
depression do these Psalms offer?

2.What does the psalmist
mean when he writes that his soul pants and thirsts for the living God? C.S.
Lewis described this as an “appetite for God.” How is your appetite for God?
What can you do to make your appetite for God increase? Just as our appetite
for food can be diminished by “junk food” so too can our appetite for God be
diminished by filling our minds and hearts with “junk food.” Pray about what
worldly things you are allowing to diminish your appetite for God.

3.What role does hope play
in enabling the psalmist to survive his experience of being alienated from God?
How can hope sustain and encourage you in times of alienation, loneliness,
despair?